Go! Go! Keep on fighting, until your last breath! Go, my hero, the Steel Samurai!
The Steel Samurai: Warrior of Neo Olde Tokyo is a critically acclaimed TV Show about one man's fight for justice. The concept is simple, The Steel Samurai (Will Powers) must defend Neo Olde Tokyo against the Evil Magistrate (Jack Hammer). Despite this the show has attracted many adult fans due to it's riveting plot and high production value.
The show ran for 3 seasons with 13 episodes each. The show was cancelled after season three following the murder of Jack Hammer, who played the Evil Magistrate. Following the show's cancellation a spin-off series, The Pink Princess: Warrior of Little Olde Tokyo was released followed by a sequel to the original show called The Nickel Samurai.note
This show provides examples of:
- Abusive Parents: The Little Mouse is all but stated to be the legal guardian of the Fat Mouse, and he constantly gets the latter into fights with little care for whether or not he makes it out alive.
- Acting for Two: Will Powers portrays both the Steel Samurai and the Pink Princess, which is very impressive albeit noticeable during the crossover special.
- Actor Allusion:
- When Smythe explains the benefits of a spear to the Steel Samurai, the Steel Samurai says he'd be fine with anything as long as it isn't an axe—they give him the creeps. Will Powers did not enjoy playing the killer in The Lake Tahoe Axe Murderer.
- The Evil Magistrate being a Fallen Hero is a tribute to Jack Hammer playing both the Dynamite Samurai and the Bearded Samurai.
- Advertised Extra: The Singing Swordsman gets his own poster and is prominently featured in advertising but has a major role in all of two episodes in the original series, a crossover in the Pink Princess, and only a cameo in the Nickel Samurai. And the latter was just a memory that reused footage from the Steel Samurai.
- Affably Evil: The Evil Magistrate may be evil and trying to take over or destroy Neo Olde Tokyo, but he's still a perfect gentleman and utterly civil to his former friend Smythe.
- Amazon Chaser: The Singing Swordsman is an Ambiguously Bi example, as he likes strong people.
- Ambiguously Bi: The Singing Swordsman says outright that he loves strong people like the Steel Samurai, the Evil Magistrate, and the Pink Princess. What makes it ambiguous is that it's never clarified whether this love is romantic, platonic, or some kind of Interplay of Sex and Violence thing with him.
- Animal Motifs: Subtly, the Steel Samurai has bulls and the Evil Magistrate has bears.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: During his "I Am" Song the Singing Swordsman lists off his evil deeds as including setting fire to a monastery, kidnapping people and holding them hostage, and cutting in the line to see a play.
- The Atoner: Smythe's backstory. In the past, he befriended an ambitious young warrior who wanted to change the world through the sword. That person eventually became the Evil Magistrate, and Smythe, traumatized from the whole experience, swore never to make another weapon again.
- Back from the Dead: The Evil Magistrate in the Steel Samurai Vs. The Plumed Punisher movie.
- Badass Bystander: The Innkeeper. While she dislikes combat and never gets into the main action, she is perfectly willing to beat up a bad guy who refuses to take the fight outside the inn. She also once hit the Evil Magistrate in the face with a mug.
- Badass Pacifist: Smythe may detest hurting people, but he can still shatter a weapon with one swing of his hammer."I make weapons. Break 'em too."
- Bait-and-Switch:
- "The First Fight" is all about the Steel Samurai fighting the Evil Magistrate, who engages him without weapons, and the Steel Samurai clearly has the advantage. You'd expect the Magistrate to break his vow to fight without weapons, right? Wrong! He takes the Samurai Saber out of the Steel Samurai's hands and breaks it with one hand!
- In "The Retired Blacksmith", Smythe has a flashback about a young warrior he met while conversing with the Steel Samurai who said he wanted to change the world with his sword, and threw the Steel Samurai out of his house when he mentioned the Evil Magistrate. We're led to believe that the Magistrate killed this young warrior, but he actually was the young warrior.
- Barbarian Longhair: Smythe, as a sign he hasn't interacted with the outside world much.
- Berserk Button:
- Don't start a fight in the Innkeeper's inn, lest you get a mug thrown in your face.
- Do not state that you want a weapon just to hurt people or act like having one gives you a license to push others around in the presence of Smythe. Count yourself fortunate that he's sworn never to directly hurt anyone, but he'll still break your much-beloved swords.
- Put the aforementioned buttons together and the Innkeeper and Smythe will calmly throw you out of the inn.
- As tempting as it is, do not try to hurt the Little Mouse in the presence of the Fat Mouse.
- Deconstructed with Hercule O'Tein. He'll cut you down if you make any signs of drawing a weapon in his presence, but this is a Pavlovian response he has no control over whatsoever.
- The Berserker: If Hercule O'Tein thinks you're drawing a weapon near him, he'll instinctively whip out his sword and cut you down before you have time to blink.
- Big Bad: The Evil Magistrate.
- Big Guy, Little Guy: The Mouse-Men.
- Birds of a Feather: The Steel Samurai and Smythe quickly hit it off due to their shared stoic nature and philosophies.
- Blood Knight:
- The Evil Magistrate. He was once a young warrior fighting evil For Great Justice, but he came to love fighting so much that he became evil.
- The Singing Swordsman loves fighting with strong opponents and treats every battle as if it were some strange mixture of a dance, a date, and a performance.
- Boisterous Weakling: The Little Mouse, knowing the Fat Mouse will protect him, is all too willing to stir up trouble.
- Boring, but Practical:
- Smythe describes the Samurai Spear as this compared to the Samurai Saber.
"Better reach. Easier to learn. Not pointlessly flashy."- What's the Steel Samurai's strategy against the strong but slow Heretic Sumo in their first fight? Using the Samurai Spear to keep his distance.
- The Bus Came Back: After over ten years of absence and being considered truly dead, The Evil Magistrate makes a grand return in the Steel Samurai Vs. Plumed Punisher movie as the Greater-Scope Villain.
- Breakout Villain: The Singing Swordsman was just a Monster of the Week who proved popular enough to come back for the Pink Princess and the crossover.
- Broken Base: Fans are split on whether the Nickel Samurai is a worthy sequel or not. Strangely, this is never brought up with the Pink Princess.
- Call to Agriculture: Smythe in "The Retired Blacksmith" (albeit indirectly, as he simply makes farming tools rather than tending fields himself) and later the Steel Samurai during "Faith and Steel, Part Two"
- Card-Carrying Villain: The Evil Magistrate, right there in the name. Pretty jarring for a man who once claimed he wanted to bring justice to Neo Olde Tokyo with his sword.
- The Caretaker: The Little Mouse to the Fat Mouse.
- Catchphrase:
- The Steel Samurai has "As long as the Steel Samurai stands, Neo Olde Tokyo shall never fall!"
- The Evil Magistrate has "Neo Olde Tokyo shall burn....and Magistropolis shall rise from its ashes!"
- The Singing Swordsman has "Exit, stage left!" and "Come ON, come ON!
- Cerebus Syndrome: "The First Fight" marks the show's shift to slightly darker tones.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: The Steel Samurai cannot stand idly by and watch people suffer!
- The "Faith and Steel" two-parter is a Decon-Recon Switch. In part one, the Steel Samurai is forced to come to terms with the fact that not only does his need to do good leave him with little to no time to recuperate physically or mentally, but his actions so far have done nothing to stop the threat of the Evil Magistrate in the long run. In part two, the members of a village he saved at the beginning of an episode help him recover the wounds he got fighting the Heretic Sumo and help him realize that every life he saves is an ally he gains in the fight against the Evil Magistrate.
- Corrupted Character Copy: The Little Mouse to George, in contrast to the Fat Mouse who's a straightforward Expy of Lennie.
- Crosscast Role:
- Will Powers, who previously played the Steel Samurai, plays the Pink Princess. Or at least, he's the one wearing the suit. The Pink Princess's lines are obviously recorded by a voice actress and added in post-production. Said voice actress remains uncredited to this day. Fans who have been to Global Studios to take a tour of the set have said that the voice sounds vaguely familiar, but they can't place it (though for some reason they all remember it sounding a lot angrier in person). There has also been a single instance of a stage show where the Pink Princess reportedly sounded identical to her TV self, a noteworthy occurrence since normally the TV actors have nothing to do with the stage shows at all.
- The role of the real Dhurke in The Steel Samurai vs. The Plumed Punisher is listed in the credits as being played by Maya Fey, though it's commonly accepted that this is a prank being played by the movie's staff, since Maya Fey, in addition to having no prior acting experience, has neither the build nor the authoritatively deep voice to pull off what many Khura'inese have claimed is such an accurate portrayal of the deceased rebel leader that it was like the man himself had come back to life (though given that most of the people interviewed winked at the camera after saying this, they're probably just in on the prank). And then there's Dhurke's Shirtless Scene, which could definitely have not been done by a woman (and still keep the PG-13 age rating). When interviewed about this, Fey simply responded, "Trade secret," and also winked at the camera.
- Cold Ham: Smythe barely even talks at all, and when he does it's usually both brief and barely above a whisper, but his voice has enough gravitas to make anything he says sound dramatic and he tends to make dramatic sweeping motions with his hands when forging things.
- Contrasting Sequel Protagonist: While the Steel Samurai is stoic and disciplined, the Nickel Samurai is hotblooded and quick to jump into action without a second thought. Additionally, the Nickel Samurai is caught up in an odd love triangle while the Steel Samurai is very much a Chaste Hero and is implied to be asexual at some points (though some non-canon stage shows have him get married to the Pink Princess).
- The Dark Side Will Make You Forget: According to Smythe, the Evil Magistrate once wanted to use his sword to bring justice to the people of Neo Olde Tokyo by punishing those who would hurt the innocent. He's since moved on to hurting the innocent himself.
- Deadpan Snarker: The Innkeeper always has something snarky to say about whatever's happening in the current episode.
- While normally The Stoic and the ultimate Straight Man, certain situations will draw snark out of the Steel Samurai. For example, any time he's fighting the Singing Swordsman.
- Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: The Innkeeper once hit the Evil Magistrate in the face with a mug.The Innkeeper: Take! This! Out! Side!
- Dirty Coward: The Little Mouse.
- Discard and Draw: The Evil Magistrate breaks the Samurai Saber in "The First Fight", forcing the Steel Samurai to have his blacksmith friend reforge it into the Samurai Spear.
- Does Not Know His Own Strength: The Fat Mouse, which is implied to be the main reason why he sticks around the Little Mouse.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: Season 1 mostly involved the Steel Samurai fighting the Evil Magistrate's various henchmen using the Samurai Saber, which had only one Finishing Move, tacked on to several plots straight out of old TV Western Series from the '50s and '60s. The eleventh episode, "The First Fight," kicked off a three-episode Story Arc that resulted in the Steel Samurai losing the Samurai Saber and getting the Samurai Spear, learning the Evil Magistrate's origin story, gaining an ally in his fight against evil, and started the series' trend towards deep philosophical arguments about the nature of justice and heroism.
- Egopolis: The Evil Magistrate wants to destroy Neo Olde Tokyo and rebuild it as Magistropolis.
- Ensemble Dark Horse: The Singing Swordsman for being a campy, funny villain and being the root cause of the show's Musical Episode and the Innkeeper for being a Deadpan Snarker, Badass Bystander who once hit the Evil Magistrate in the face with a mug.
- Exact Words: The Steel Samurai reassures Hercule O'Tein that he did die of natural causes, since it was his illness that gave the Magistrate the opening he needed.
- Executive Meddling: In The Steel Samurai vs. The Plumed Punisher, the decision for "Dhurke" to be revealed as the Evil Magistrate in disguise, and the real Dhurke to be his prisoner and a heroic figure was enforced by Plumed Punisher executive producer Beh'leeb Inmee, who took over the position from Pah'ropah Gandah in early 2029 and was a key figure alongside Will Powers (who she was introduced to by mutual acquaintance Maya Fey) in bringing the Plumed Punisher franchise to the US.
- Expy:
- The Singing Swordsman is more or less Scaramouche the Merciless with the mannerisms of Michael Jackson and Snagglepuss.
- Smythe's profession, Barbarian Longhair, beard, and shirtlessness make him a near dead ringer for Andre of Astora. The only major differences being that Andre is even more shirtless, and also more talkative (but then again, who isn't?).
- Even Evil Has Standards: The Evil Magistrate is disgusted by the Heretic Sumo's table manners.
- Evil Former Friend: The Evil Magistrate to Smythe. For what it's worth, the Magistrate holds no ill will towards Smythe whatsoever.
- Evil Sounds Raspy: The Singing Swordsman sounds an awful lot like a certain pop star...
- Fandom Rivalry: Fans of the Steel Samurai usually don't get along well with fans of it's competitor, the Jammin' Ninja. There are plenty of fans who like both, however.
- Fantastic Fighting Style: The Steel Samurai and the Evil Magistrate respectively practice Swift Strength of Ox and Swift Strength of Bear styles. A "Swift Strength" style in general seems to be a mixture of the footwork of fencing and the bladework of kendo.
- Fallen Hero: The Evil Magistrate was once a promising young warrior who wanted to bring justice to Neo Olde Tokyo with his sword, but was too much into "condemning the guilty" and not enough into "protecting the innocent" and eventually became a full-on Card-Carrying Villain.
- Fat Bastard: The Heretic Sumo, full stop. Even his boss doesn't like him.
- Fat Idiot: The Evil Magistrate regards the Heretic Sumo as one, expressing surprise that he could find anything not covered in a sweet honey glaize or a barbecue sauce.
- Finishing Move: The Steel Samurai had "Steel Rain" when he used the Samurai Saber.
- Flynning: Smythe does this intentionally; as an Actual Pacifist he doesn't want to hurt anyone, so when he needs to fight he uses his hammer to break the enemy's weapons.
- Forging Scene: Smythe forging the Samurai Spear.
- For Great Justice: Smythe's friend in his flashback wanted to use the sword to bring justice to the world by hunting down the guilty. That friend became the Evil Magistrate and now has....different beliefs, to say the least.
- Freudian Trio: Amongst the main cast of season 2, Smythe is the Superego while the Steel Samurai and the Innkeeper trade the roles of Id and Ego depending on the episode.
- Friendly Fandoms: Surprisingly, fans of the Steel Samurai get along very well, and have a heavy overlap with, fans of the Plumed Punisher. It helps that the Plumed Punisher, which was previously a Khura'in exclusive show, was introduced to the US through a crossover movie.
- Go-Karting with Bowser: The Evil Magistrate does not cause any trouble at all during Smythe and the Innkeeper's wedding, and is insulted that the Steel Samurai thinks he'd crash the wedding of his former best friend and the woman who once hit him in the face with a coffee mug just because Smythe chose the Steel Samurai over him as his best man.
- Good-Guy Bar: The Innkeeper's inn, where the Steel Samurai usually comes to either get information or rest up. It's actually supposed to be a Truce Zone where the Steel Samurai, the Magistrate, and his various minions aren't allowed to fight, but most of the Magistrate's henchmen stir up too much trouble for it to stay such for long.
- Good Versus Good: When the Plumed Punisher comes to Neo Old Tokyo to track down Dhurke, the Steel Samurai thinks she's a villain and they have an epic fight, just like the title promised.
- The Grinch: Subverted. The Evil Magistrate is actually pretty indifferent towards Christmas, a fact that really annoys him since what kind of evil villain doesn't hate Christmas? The entire Christmas Episode is dedicated to the Steel Samurai helping him find a reason to hate it. He succeeds by getting all of the Evil Magistrate's henchmen to give him nothing but socks and underwear, because everyone hates getting those for Christmas.
- Heroic BSoD: During the "Faith and Steel" two-parter, the Steel Samurai suffers a brief one of these and decides to give up being the Steel Samurai.
- Hero Killer: The Evil Magistrate was a G-rated example in "The First Fight," where he breaks the Samurai Saber with his bare hands.
- Iaijutsu Practitioner: Hercule O'Tein.
- I Am Not Left-Handed: The Evil Magistrate decides to fight the Steel Samurai without weapons in "The First Fight," figuring that he could beat the Steel Samurai without any. Given that he broke the Samurai Saber, he was right..
- He forgoes the trope altogether in "Return of the Magistrate," as he's witnessed the Steel Samurai take down the Singing Swordsman with little effort and decides to use weapons.
- "I Am" Song: The Singing Swordsman's abilities are introduced through such.
- In Memoriam:
- The final episode of the Steel Samurai was dedicated to Jack Hammer, who was murdered before the episode could be complete (resulting in stage assistant Othar Darren having to sub in as the Evil Magistrate for most of the scenes).
- The Steel Samurai Vs. The Plumed Punisher was dedicated to Dhurke Sahdmadhi, the former head of the Defiant Dragons, a rebel group in the Kingdom of Khura'in who had recently been vindicated when the movie came out. Previously a fictional version of him had served as the Plumed Punisher's main villain.
- Interplay of Sex and Violence: A G-rated example with the Singing Swordsman. When he accepts the Steel Samurai's challenge, he says "It's a date", and in his return in the Pink Princess, he says that the Princess dances as well as the Steel Samurai and that he loves the feeling of "dancing" with strong opponents.
- It Was His Sled: Defied. The writers knew this was inevitable when they decided to have the Evil Magistrate destroy the Samurai Saber and replace it with the Samurai Spear, so they decided to have all promos spoil it.
- Jabba Table Manners: The Heretic Sumo, much to the Evil Magistrate's disgust.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: The Little Mouse acts like he cares about the Fat Mouse in spite of his general unpleasantness, but don't be fooled—he constantly takes advantage of the Fat Mouse up to and including not caring if the Steel Samurai kills him.
- Kaiju: Following the success of 2019's The Mighty Moozilla vs. Gourdy, Global Studios execs decided that the obvious course of action was to throw their new cow into the ring against their old cow, and thus The Steel Samurai vs. The Mighty Moozilla was born. The overwhelming opinion from both critics and fans alike was that the plot was godawful and made absolutely no sense, but it's the Steel Samurai fighting a giant monster and that's awesome, so who cares?
- Katanas Are Just Better: Subverted. The Samurai Spear is a vastly superior weapon to the Samurai Saber, which was broken by the Evil Magistrate in "The First Fight". When he fights the Evil Magistrate again in "Return of the Magistrate", the Evil Magistrate notes that the Samurai Spear frightens him so much that he's going to use his weapons this time.
- Kevlard: The Heretic Sumo is Nigh-Invulnerable thanks to a thick layer of fat and a hide made super-hard by hamboning.
- Knight of Cerebus: The Evil Magistrate, whenever he fights the Steel Samurai instead of relying on his lieutenants to do the job for him.
- Lampshade Hanging: Doing this is the job of the Innkeeper, who is much more grounded in reality than any of the other characters.
- Magic Music: The Singing Swordsman is able to control his sword telepathically by whistling, humming, and singing.
- Martial Pacifist: The Steel Samurai believes that the greatest reason to fight is to protect the innocent. It's this worldview that eventually convinces Smythe to forge the Samurai Spear.
- Master Swordsman: The Singing Swordsman is acknowledged by the Steel Samurai to be the better swordsman....but the Steel Samurai isn't a swordsman anymore by the time they meet. The Singing Swordsman also indicates that he's loyal to the Evil Magistrate in the first place because he's even better.
- Hercule O'Tein isn't Famed In-Story for nothing—he fought the Evil Magistrate to a standstill and would have won had his disease not flared up mid-fight.
- Monster of the Week: At first, the show was nothing but the Steel Samurai fighting the various henchmen of the Evil Magistrate. This changed after "The First Fight," but we still got the occasional Magistrate Minion.
- Even before "The First Fight," there were a few episodes without Magistrate Minions, most memorably "Luck of the Draw" which is mostly about Hercule O'Tein.
- Mr. Fanservice: The Steel Samurai, Nickel Samurai, Aluminum Samurai, and Tin Samurai.
- Ms. Fanservice: The Pink Princess.
- Mundane Made Awesome: The Heretic Sumo strengthens the skin on his palms by slapping brick walls, and strengthens the skin on the rest of his body by hamboning with the already-strengthened palms. It's disgusting, but it seems to work.
- No Name Given: We never learn the Steel Samurai's real name. See The Unreveal below.
- Nor do we know the Innkeeper's real name. This extends to her known name. She is only referred to as "The Innkeeper" in the credits and not in-universe.
- Nonstandard Character Design: The Singing Swordsman and the Heretic Sumo are the only Magistrate Minions whose costumes have moving mouthpieces.
- No Problem with Licensed Games: While the Steel Samurai has had a rather spotty history with licensed games, there have been some gems:
- The Steel Samurai: Tournament of Heroes, the second attempt at making a Steel Samurai fighting game. It is applauded for having original and inventive mechanics and has even developed a rather large competitive community. The only real issue with the game could be said to be that its title is inaccurate, since the game features several villains.
- The Steel Samurai: Battle for Neo Olde Tokyo, a fun, engaging, tongue-in-cheek Action RPG in which the Steel Samurai teams up with various other characters to defend Neo Olde Tokyo from both classic Steel Samurai villains and a brand new threat.
- Steel Samurai, a recent open world game that is highly praised by both fans and critics for its engaging story, excellent gameplay, and very true to text depiction of the Steel Samurai.
- No Social Skills: Smythe, thanks to years of not actively socializing and focusing on his work.
- Only One Name: Smythe is only ever referred to as "Smythe." Lampshaded by the Innkeeper, who repeatedly asks him whether "Smythe" is his first name or his last name.
- Periphery Demographic: Despite being intended for kids, the Steel Samurai, along with it's spin-off and sequel, has acquired a number of adult fans.
- Playing Against Type: Both of its leads, surprisingly. Prior to The Steel Samurai, Will Powers could only land roles as the monster in B-grade horror movies like Attack of the Abominable Caveman, the Were-Lions from Tahiti trilogy, Curse of the Berserker, and The Lake Tahoe Ax Murderer, while Jack Hammer had already made a name for himself as the star of a previous Samurai series, Dynamite Samurai.
- Punched Across the Room: The Heretic Sumo can do this with his sumo slaps.
- Remember the New Guy?: Hercule O'Tein is The Dreaded and Famed In-Story amongst Neo Olde Tokyo, yet he was never brought up before or since until Smythe mentioned him in his story about the Evil Magistrate's Start of Darkness. The Innkeeper handwaves this by saying he's so scary that people don't like to talk about him.
- The Reveal: In The Steel Samurai Vs. The Plumed Punisher movie, it is revealed that the "Dhurke" who has been the main villain for the entire Plumed Punisher series is really the Evil Magistrate in disguise and the real Dhurke was being held prisoner and is actually a really nice guy.
- Role Reprise: Post-Pink Princess, Will Powers had taken no roles related to the Steel Samurai universe be it in Video Games or stage plays. However, he finally came back to play his most famous (and his favorite, according to interviews) role as the Steel Samurai in the Steel Samurai vs. The Plumed Punisher movie.
- Ship Tease: Smythe is commonly seen talking to the Innkeeper whenever he's not supporting the Steel Samurai, with the Innkeeper playfully teasing him about his social awkwardness. They get married in Season 3.
- Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer: The Evil Magistrate is not featured anywhere in the marketing of The Steel Samurai vs. The Plumed Punisher and usual Plumed Punisher villain Dhurke Sahdmadhi was played up to be the main villain.
- Smart Jerk and Nice Moron: The small and large Mouse-Men, respectively.
- Stout Strength: The Heretic Sumo, thanks to his training regimen.
- Take That!: The Singing Swordsman is a minor example to the Jammin' Ninja, as both are swordsmen associated with music (jazz and pop for the Singing Swordsman and hip-hop for the Jammin' Ninja), and he's considered extremely annoying by everyone he fights. The producers of Jammin' Ninja loved him and even gave the Jammin' Ninja the ability to telepathically control shuriken by beatboxing in homage to the Singing Swordsman's sword-controlling scat singing.
- 10-Minute Retirement: The Steel Samurai briefly decides to give up his monkier during his Heroic BSoD in the "Faith and Steel" two-parter.
- Terse Talker: Smythe, bordering on outright Beige Prose at times. The Innkeeper constantly mocks him for it.
- Then Let Me Be Evil: According to Smythe's story, the Evil Magistrate was once a young warrior who sought to bring justice to Neo Olde Tokyo with the sword by punishing the guilty. However, his bloodlust grew as he defeated more and more people and started using "justice" as an excuse to pick fights with anyone and enforce his will on the citizens of Neo Olde Tokyo, who rose up and ran him out, calling him "evil." The Evil Magistrate evidently took this to heart.
- Trailers Always Spoil: The promos for "The First Fight" all give away that the Samurai Sword gets broken and replaced. Tropes Are Not Bad in this case, as it was a deliberate decision on the writers' part to avoid It Was His Sled and it didn't spoil the context of the Samurai Saber's destruction (the Evil Magistrate broke it with his bare hands.)
- Training from Hell: Parodied. The Heretic Sumo boasts that his perfect offensive strength is the result of slapping a brick wall thousands of times and squeezing logs until they break...and his perfect defensive strength is the result of hamboning with his strengthened palms. The Steel Samurai and the Evil Magistrate are both disgusted by this.
- Ultimate Blacksmith: Smythe is considered to be one, with the Steel Samurai actively seeking him out to reforge his weapon after the Magistrate breaks it.
- The Unreveal:
- Every time we're about to learn the Steel Samurai's real name it's either interrupted or the episode ends.
- You'd think that the Innkeeper marrying Smythe would finally reveal whether "Smythe" is his first name or his last name or what the Innkeeper's real name is, right? WRONG! Smythe and the Innkeeper both say "I do" before the vows can be read in their entirety.
- Verbal Tic: The Singing Swordsman has one, even!
- Walking Shirtless Scene:
- The Steel Samurai is always shirtless with the exception of his origin episode and during his Heroic BSoD when he tries to give up being the Steel Samurai.
- Smythe doesn't wear anything other than an apron on his upper body.
- Wham Episode: "The First Fight", in which the Steel Samurai battles the Evil Magistrate himself for the first time and the Magistrate breaks the Samurai Saber.
- Xanatos Gambit: The smaller Mouse-Man regards trying to egg the larger one into fighting the Steel Samurai as this: If he wins, he not only gets a reward from the Evil Magistrate but the two Mouse-Men get revenge on the Steel Samurai, but if he loses he no longer has to take care of the larger one.
- You Remind Me of X: Smythe initially refused to forge a weapon for the Steel Samurai because he reminded him of the Evil Magistrate.
